HARTFORD – Connecticut’s air, water, wildlife and human health are showing the
effects of climate change, according to the state Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ).Each year, the CEQ publishes the
state’s environmental quality report. The report for 2016 was published in
April and updated in June. On Wednesday, July 26, the Council met and discussed
how the report’s results reflect a changing climate.“Our annual report is based on 30
environmental indicators,” explained Council chair Susan Merrow, a resident of
East Haddam, “and while we do not label most of them as climate change
indicators, they do in fact tell us a lot about the effects of climate.
Regrettably, current climate trends are not positive for Connecticut’s
environment.”The three biggest climatic factors,
according to the Council, that can affect Connecticut’s local environment are
rising summertime temperatures, more intensive rainfall, and higher tides.The clearest examples include the
following:

The number of bad air days tracks hot
weather very closely. The number of bad air days in 2016 – 31 days – was
almost exactly equal to the ten-year average, even though Connecticut
reduced its emissions from vehicles and power plants over that time. (Connecticut
has seen 17 bad air days so far in 2017, with towns in the Madison area seeing
more bad days while Danbury and some others have had fewer.)A “bad air day” is counted when the air
in all or part of Connecticut is worse than the federal standard for
ground-level ozone that was set to protect human health, which means that
residents’ health is being affected.“We had the hottest
summertime ozone season on record in 2016,” said Merrow. “If summertime temperatures
keep rising, we might never attain our clean-air goals.”

Long Island Sound, its shellfish beds
and its beaches – along with small streams throughout the state – are
affected greatly by pollution that washes into the water after storms. The
National Weather Service published data in 2015 that confirmed what had
been predicted by many: Connecticut’s rainfalls are heavier than they were
fifty years ago, and heavy rains have become more frequent. Much of the
rain in Connecticut falls on pavement, lawns, and other surfaces that
contribute pollutants – fertilizers, pesticides, animal waste, petroleum
and more – to the rainwater and snowmelt as it runs off into streams and
the Sound. Even as towns and cities, their residents and the state do more
every year to reduce pollution, the environmental indicators for water
quality do not show a lot of recent improvement.

The Sound’s warming waters have not been
kind to lobsters, winter flounder and other denizens that prefer cool
water. The lobster index hit a new low in 2016. Meanwhile, species from
warmer regions of the Atlantic Ocean, such as northern searobin, have
become more common.

Piping Plovers and other shorebirds inhabit
a narrow stretch of land between the water and higher land. While the
Piping Plover, a threatened species, has been doing fairly well thanks to
intensive efforts of volunteers, conservation organizations and the
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, it is considered by
scientists to be vulnerable to any further rise in sea level. Also, as
described in the CEQ annual report, several species of Connecticut’s marsh
birds face extirpation or extinction, according to a University of
Connecticut researcher writing in the Connecticut Audubon Society’s State
of the Birds report for 2016.

Beyond reporting the effects of climate
change, the CEQ’s report also tracks several in-state behavioral trends that
contribute to global climate change:

The average resident drove about
the same number of miles -- 24 per day -- in 2016 as in 2015.
Combined with data on fuel consumption, this statistic does not bode well
for attaining the state's goals for reducing the pollution that contributes
to global warming.

Total emissions of carbon dioxide, from
all sources, are not on track to meet the goal that the state set for
itself for the year 2050.

A few indicators in the CEQ annual
report relate to actions that could help to absorb or reduce carbon dioxide
emissions, including conservation of forest and farmland and recycling of refuse.
Among those indicators, only farmland preservation is showing signs of
improvement.

"At its meeting,” Merrow said, “the Council discussed the fact that
residents who are concerned about the effects of climate change have no convenient
source for updated data other than the CEQ’s annual report.”

“The Council decided to add specific
climate symbols to all of the relevant environmental indicators in next year’s
report,” Merrow continued. “We actually started this a couple of years ago in
an informal way, but today we took the step of formalizing the climate change
component. It turns out that the majority of the indicators in our report are directly
relevant to climate change.”

“We will continue to consult climate
change experts,” Merrow concluded. “Many people have come to rely on our reports
for accurate and unbiased data on Connecticut’s environment, so we will make
sure that all new climate change information is updated and reliable.”

END

Established in 1971, the Council on Environmental Quality submits Connecticut’s
annual report on the status of the environment to the Governor pursuant to
section 22a-12 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Additional responsibilities
of the Council include review of construction projects of other state agencies,
publication of the twice-monthly Environmental Monitor, and
investigation of citizens’ complaints and allegations of violations of
environmental laws. The Council is a nine-member board that is independent of
the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (except for
administrative functions). The chairman and four other members are appointed by
the Governor, two members by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and two by
the Speaker of the House. All serve without compensation.